Improvement in casting cannons



f2/@4am Inventor:

Wimesses:

UNITED. rSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

H. nMnnY, er vNew YORK, x. fr.

IMPROVEMENT IN CASTING cANNoNs.,

Specification forming part of Leiters Pzitenth'o. 44,52I, dated October fl', '1864;' nntellated i September :24, 1864.

To a/ZZ whom, t may concern: I

-Be it known that I, A. H. EMERY, of the city, county, and Sta-te of N ew York, have invented a new and Improved Process of Found-l ing Ordnance; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the lettersof' reference marked thereon.

The nat-nre of my invention relates to the :method of casting and cooling ordnance, more l especially that cooled by water from the interior, in the manufacture of which three evils have existed, which I propose to remove.I

These are, first, porous metal about the breech ofthe gun, caused by casting the gunfbreech down, with a chasev of smaller section than the breech, the chase solidifying first, owing to its smaller section, and as the cooling progresses downward the mass of melted metal contracting draws from that solidifying in the sections above it,` making these sections porous, to avoid which the chases of the guns have been made ve1ylarge,and then dressed ofi' at great expense and loss of metal, and then but/parwith a constant or increasing section upto the top thereof, which should be several inches above the end of the nished gun. Then each section will have a larger section of metal above it, so that in solidifying the metal of any one section will alwayssolidify before that partof the casting above it solidifies,and is therefore more dense than when solidified, as heretofore, with a mass of melted metal below it, and drawing from it to make it porous, instead of giving it pressure to make it dense; second, in providing suitable ways to keep the hollow core in the axis of the casting and pass water through it, bycontinuing said core entirely through the casting, and subjecting it to tension after it has been rnilyse'cured in the axis of the mold, the tension keeping it straight; and, third, in providing ways to keep the interior of the casting rapidly cooling with water after the hollow core hasl been removed, un'til it is sufficiently cool to fill-entirely with water withoutcooling' too rapidi y,by means 'of'apipe passing through I- the center of the bore,wl1ich is perforated with small holesto allow small jets of water to be forced out against the sides ofthe bore.

To enable others skilled in the art to make use of my invention,I will now proceed to describe it more minutely in detail. l-

In the drawings like figures representv like parts. Y

Figure l shows an end view of the flask and contents complete,while Fig.2 shows a longi-t tudinal section ofthe same bythe cI'Itting-nlane zzin Flg..l.

A represents the flask; B, the sand-mold containing the gun-casting C, which has been poured through the gate which is occupiedby the sprue E. F is the hollow core. 4,

The flask A is made of iron, as usual, confA taining the baked-sand mold B, in which the gun-casting is made with the breech up. The chase of this gun is made'but little larger in the casting than it is tobe when'dressedmhile` it has to be made very much larger when the casting is made breech down,so that it may be longer in cooling, to avoid porosity of the part below it-,which still has a larger section, so that it only partially counteracts this evil, while it has to be dressed off at great expense.

The difficulty of introducing. waterto the hollow core, as heretofore used when castwith the breech up, has prevented their use entirely, as the work would all have to be done at' the bottom of a highly-heated pit in which the casting is being made. Ipass these hollow cores entirely through the casting, so I can work at them from the top, where Icanread-l ily get at them, even when the pit is heated. Instead of rounding off the casting at the4 breech, as heretofore,'I continue. it the size of the largest part,or increasing up to the top of l the casting,which is carried suiieiently above the end of lthe finished gun to give the required density at the end of the finished gun. It will be seen that the casting has an increasing section from the muzzle at the bottom'up 'to the and in tspioper'positin'while water .is cirl 'oulala-ing throughv it.

' In the'drawingg Dlshows across-piece attached to thje ask,thi'oughfwheh the hollow core .F passes; and I shows` a '-sleeve through which it pas's'es at.-the bottom, -these 'two pi'ei'zes F inthe axisol; the mold. 'Iii. is-k ep`t Straight; Eloy means of'the-v 'screws and Hzand rubber- .spring-G, by .which iis-lis kept". under afstrainf of tension;`

Afterthe metal has allsol-idiedfthe hollow. :core-F sremved', the sleeve Il italgenl out, and f a ring of softcljay placed. on the upperend 'ofit, Vand the sleeveIis-thenscrewe baek''whenk the clay ring willlfeepthe water from getting between the sleeve I and jeasti-nginto. `the sand mold B when the 'gun is lled with water,v vbut does not y:preyent'the waten fronrpass'ing through the bore and sleeve. After the sleeve I is put in its place the pipe L(shown in Figs. 3- and 4) is put in the bore of the gun, and a V'streani `of water oirculated'through it whileit is lhwly rotated. This pipe is perforated with smaxl hles, which allow ne streams of water.- tube 'oreed out against-the-sides of the'bore,

thus cooling yit rapid1y,.but not too fast. When the ternperatureof the-interior' of the casting that isalong the surface ,of the bore is'reduced to about boiling-heat' of water, the bore may be entirely ll'ed. with water,whieh must cireulate rapidly to prevent'arapid formation1 L `of steam, this circulationbeing kept up until "the Casting is nearly .or quite cold.-

, What I yhere claire, and desire to secure byvv '-Le'tters Patent, isf-f v '1' ACa'sting'oannfnis'with the breech lupperinfo st," as and for. the.. purposedeserbed,v and '\yvi` t l 1 v the'. hollowcore bar or mandrel passing lthrough@and projeeti'ng' beyondboth .ends of Lthecasting. 21. Inthecasti-ng of cannons, applying tothe hollowco're'bar a tensile strain, substantially 'in the' vn'ianner andifor the purpose described..

y 'Y 3.5, The use of thewater-pipeL, substantially as .and for the plirpose'set forth-1 Witnesses:

'GHARLE's SMITH', 'EDMe- Ff BROWN. 

